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jopomojoPoetry in process by Jonathan Potter Author: Jonathan Potter
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Chicago
Friday, 5 December, 2025
The train ride Binx and Kate took In The Moviegoer was my introduction To the thought of Chicago before I ever Visited that grand city as a stop On my drive across the country in a car With a starter that was going bad— At every stop refusing to start, Which caused me to take it to a shop And strand myself there for three days, Sleeping in the cargo hold. (It was a Volkswagen Rabbit and I Made myself a bed there.) The mechanic, wheelchair bound, said there Was a part he’d need to order, which took A couple of days, which wasn’t bad. I grabbed my guitar by way of introduction And rode the “L” downtown to start Some kind of adventure: a donut shop Where a girl said, “Do you only hold That thing or can you play it?” So I Pulled it out and played what I called “Used Car” By Springsteen and scored the day’s First donut and coffee and the first ever Bit of fame I thought might never stop. That lovely girl, though, was my last stop On a slippery slope that started there And ended up back at Dave’s shop In the malaise of the night and my bad And solitary bed. On the third day, I Rose from my parking lot tomb, as ever. Dave finished the job and I paid seven days’ Of my budgeted cash to get the car Out of there and on the road. I took It about a mile and, to see if it’d start Again, pulled off, cut the motor, took hold Of the key again and suffered a reintroduction Of the problem whose first introduction Had occurred in Idaho on my first stop Of the trip. Never mind. Cut to many days And nights and years later. Chicago took Its place as the halfway point where I And thou would meet and put our lives on hold To navigate the genie soul of wind whenever We could, hand in hand without a car, From O’Hare on separate flights to start Our explorations of the good and bad— Trump Tower evincing the latter there; The former, the Art Institute and its gift shop. In love, we roamed from shop to shop And made an extended introduction Of art and architecture, taking time to stop For views and drinks to sip and hold While gazing lovingly, thou and I, Into each other’s reveling to be there With each other. Rarely, we’d hire a car To get from point A to B with a bad Driver at the wheel in a kind of daze That made us wonder how many drugs he took. Other times we’d rent bikes to start A ride along the lake that could go forever. Those were the days of after ever After, when Chicago set the scene to shop For the future of our new life and fresh start, Looking at our reflection there In the bean in Millennium Park, like a stop On the rollercoaster of time, the bad Interlude behind us and the days Of boat rides through downtown and car Rides in the countryside before us, I With my daughters and you with your son. They took To us graciously as the introduction To this new life began to take hold. In my Chicago mind, I hold An image of us at Montrose Beach, wherever The path had led us, an introduction To Lake Michigan and a place to start Our walk along the shore, the wind not bad, The autumn sun like a golden car Cruising up the sky while thou and I Walked like angels ascending to a stop For lunch at London House, the rooftop there Commanding views of every café and shop, And surrounding buildings that, when we later took The river tour, would fill our minds for days. That afternoon seemed to stretch for days As we sat together on a boat built to hold A hundred tourists or more sitting there With us to see the Aqua with its ever Undulating lines, Wrigley’s eye To terra cotta connecting good and bad, Marina City’s corncob look and onsite shop— No need to leave or have a car. We cruised along and gawked and took A thousand pictures, our river-introduction To amazements that seemed to stop Time in its tracks, until we made it start. Our Chicago times, from the very start, Were some of our very best days, Even when we got our introduction To Pilsen, staying near the Pink Line stop, Up the crookedest stairs we’d ever Seen to an iffy AirBnB above a shop. We bought a dozen eggs and I Cooked them for every meal we ate there Till we decided it was time to put a hold On eggs—not that they were at all bad!— And venture out for Mexican art that took The cake and then to Cindy’s in a car. An elevator car, that is, a car That took us to the rooftop for drinks to start An episode of elegance and views from there To the bean below and then a repeat introduction To the Hampton Social, near a beauty shop Not far from Navy Pier, our favorite ever, Maybe, a place to put your cares on hold And enjoy authentic refinement that puts a stop To the threat of the malaise—not that you or I Were in any danger, being so in love we took Each other’s breath away and all the days Blurred into nights when nothing bad At all could happen. Except for that one bad Sandwich we ate that laid us low there For but a blip, redeemed by Dogs for days Found recommended with celery salt at the start Of our third visit when we opted for an introduction To the theatre district and the Kimpton Allegro. We’d stop For champagne in the sparkling lobby and shop For finery and memorabilia after we took In Bernhardt/Hamlet at the Goodman. If ever We’d had a glitzier time of lovely fun, we’d hold That thought aside like a parked car And just enjoy the loveliness of thou and I. The next day, being librarians, you and I Paid our respects to the public library with its bad- Ass owls, then walked by Buckingham Fountain near there, St. Peter’s Church in the Loop, its rosary shop And streetwise crucifix to make the traffic stop. We were veritably floating from now to ever, Wondering at our lovely luck and lucky start And this recurring windy city introduction To the strange turn we’d taken in our souls’ car, Traveling to the next opportunity to hold Each other and to float in the air for magical days On end and offer up whatever it took. Back to O’Hare and its brachiosaurus, I took My flight and you yours, to start our introduction To a few weeks’ separation. Not forever, not too bad, Because we’d soon shop for flights to London and there Eke out a weeklong stop before the pandemic took hold Like a swerving car that changed the course of our days. Potter Poems is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jopomojo.substack.com/subscribe
